Dancing on Strings

The Morning After

The next morning, one of the dance mistresses arrived to join Mai for the morning class at the pavilion while the director visited with the king – the ballet mistress didn't tell Mai anything about her fate as a dancer after the drama of the night before and ordered her to solely focus on her lesson like the rest of the troupe back at the theatre would be doing.

When that was done, she went through the motions of her rehearsal before the mistress left and was groomed for the day.

She was excused from court, of course and – when she returned to the main palace – everyone bowed respectfully and stayed out of her way, whispering to each other in tones that suggested someone had died.

Just when she was debating on returning to the pavilion to get away from the sombre crowd, a servant appeared to tell her the king wished to see her and she was guided back to one of his private chambers where she found he was still in audience with the director.

"Good morning, Your Highness," Mr. Roux said, glancing back at her and bowing slightly.

"Director," Mai muttered, looking between the two men. "How is the company this morning?"

"As well as expected. Somewhat rattled but at class on time as they should be."

"I'm... sorry," Mai said, looking down.

"For?" Mr. Roux inquired.

Mai looked at him. "For the attack last night. For placing the rest of the company in danger."

"My dear princess," Mr. Roux said, "I'll have you remember that the Mai who was shot at was the double in the box, not the one on stage. Your identity is still safe – in fact, it is safer than ever after people saw 'Princess Mai' at the same time 'Miss Mariana Cho' was on stage dancing. The dancer was not shot at, the princess was. You did not place my company in danger. I hope you didn't think I came here to dismiss you from the stage."

Mai opened her mouth then paused.

"In fact, I came here because of this."

He held up a newspaper and Mai's heart stalled.

The news. The show's review would be in there. The critics would be judging her. These were the first reviews that really mattered to her.

She rushed forwards and took it, shaking out the paper to the page that covered the ballet.

'Despite one notable upset during last night's performance, the opening night of The Doll Maker was, it has to be said, a brilliant success.'

Mai felt her face begin to heat with pride as she read through the article.

'A favourite of The Season, The Doll Maker holds a special place in the hearts of theatre-goers, as do the characters. I have seen truly wonderful renditions of The Doll Queen and horrendous versions of Dimenco. With so much depending on the superb characters, I am in favour of judging our characters harshly and have been known to more often than not call out the faults in a performance because I expect the best.

I find, to my surprise, that there was little to complain of this opening night. The corps de ballet was beautifully in sync. Each act was carried off without a misstep and the principal dancers shone.

None more so, however, than the principal: Mariana Cho. A dark horse amongst the company with her striking features that so closely resemble our fair Princess Royal. Miss Cho has always shown great potential and has never failed to impress on stage. This, though, was her defining moment, I believe.